Lest you get carried away with the thought, though, note that there are simpler kinds of glass--coated glass, that is--that also save on heating or cooling bills.

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They coated the array with a thin film of gold and placed it above a flat, gold-coated sheet of glass.

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It's also coated in Gorilla Glass 2, with ClearBlack tech and a high-brightness mode to improve outdoor visibility and the same super-sensitive touchscreen that means you'll be able to steer the phone with your gloves on.

ENGADGET

However, the Gorilla Glass-coated screen remained unfazed during its time in our pockets and on our desks.

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Since the hydrogen-treated wafer is not destroyed by this process, it can be re-used this time as the glass-coated wafer.

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Its "nose" is a 2-inch-long glass cylinder coated on the inside with a concoction of glowing chemicals like those found in the belly of a lightning bug.

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The material to be tested is liquefied and passed through a filter made up of glass beads which are coated with the antibodies.

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Inside the chamber are hundreds of glass beads, each coated with millions of antibodies that stick to the kind of bacteria you are testing for, say Salmonella.

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